Indicia readers (i.e., barcode scanners, barcode readers, etc.) are devices which decode and interpret indicia (i.e., 1D-barcodes, 2D-barcodes, characters, signatures, etc.) that are marked (e.g., printed, labeled, written) on objects to (i) help perform a function (e.g., calculate shipping, calculate cost, etc.) and/or (ii) provide information about the object (e.g., model number, serial number, etc.).
While various types of indicia readers exist, imaging indicia readers are often preferred due to their versatility. These devices may be handheld (e.g., a mobile computing device, a gun-style scanner, etc.) or fixed mounted (e.g., in-counter scanner). Imaging indicia readers use a digital imager, to capture a digital image of one or more indicia. The digital image may then be processed to read (e.g., recognize, decode, scan, etc.) the one or more indicia found in the image.
Obtaining a good image is important for decoding indicia. Often, however, objects are not well aligned with the indicia reader's digital imager. This is especially true for handheld scanners. This misalignment may lead to images in which an indicium (e.g., a barcode) may appear distorted due to perspective (i.e., perspective distortion). This perspective distortion makes indicia reading difficult.
It has been disclosed, that perspective distortion may be removed from two-dimensional (2D) images in order to improve 2D barcode recognition (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,780,084 that is hereby incorporated entirely by reference). The systems and methods disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 7,780,084 rely on knowledge of the 2D barcode (e.g., feature size/shape) to remove distortion. This foreknowledge of an expected size/shape, however, limits the versatility of these systems and methods. A need, therefore, exists for a more versatile system and method to remove distortion from images for indicia reading.